Not Ready For Prime Time

NLST will answer whether spiral CT can reduce the number of lung cancer deaths

Until then - not ready for prime time

The Crux Of The Issue

If screening, in the absence of a benefit, were guaranteed to be innocuous, it would not be inappropriate to implement mass screening programs before definitive evidence supporting a mortality reduction was available. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The "Costs" Of Screening

Financial and otherwise

Health care resources

False positive tests

Identification of lesions with little-to-no clinical relevance

The Unfortunate Truth

Cancer screening will always result in harm, harm that would never have occurred in the absence of screening